The Humility of Style

One of the chief characteristics of post-enlightenment man (modernist heretics) is that they disregard the lessons of their forefathers as they brave forward in "progress". I've heard this attitude even when it comes to clothes. We're not the first people to put a leg in a pair of pants, but its amazing how quickly and with such prideful arrogance we cast off the time-wasting traditions of our forefathers. It might go something like this:

Man 1 - "Your pants are suppose to just grace the tops of your shoes. Don't let them be too long."
Man 2 - "What do you mean 'suppose to'?? No one tells me how to wear my pants! What could be so important about pants that we need to have rules for them? You're so stifling and outdated."
Man 1 - "I see. Well, enjoy those pants then!"



Man 2 doesn't realize that rules are helpful. Adopt some rules or figure them all out on your own. Rules enshrine a lesson learned from the past. In this case the lesson is you look like a child when your pants are too long. They look burrowed. They actually call attention to your clothes rather than your person. Pants that fit properly flatter the male body and make him look strong and put together. When you're dressed properly no one notices and this is a good thing. A gentlemen doesn't need to draw attention to himself. Noble, silent, respectable.

This is a much less important tendency of the I-am-smarter-than-all-before-me attitude, but its a symptom of it nonetheless.

Style, unlike fashion, is inherited and learned. Fashion is clamored for and sold. Style takes the lessons of the past and applies them today. Do you see the humility in that? I guess we could shake it off as uneccesary, uncomfortable and inconvenient. Thats what we do with important matters like marriage so we might as well do it with clothes.

PS - Many men, especially young, have simply not learned the rules. They would eagerly do the right thing, if anyone had the goodness to teach them.